She is the daughter of Christophe Pileni, chief administrator of French Overseas possessions and Marie-Pasquine Micheletti, President of the Red Cross.
There she obtained an honors degree in physical chemistry (1968), a Ph.D (1969) and a D.Sc.
(thèse du doctorat d’Etat) (1977).
She became a demonstrator (1969–1974), assistant lecturer (1974–1983), associate professor (1983–1990) then full professor (1990–1997) and finally distinguished professor (since 1997).